SpotOn
Restaurant-focused. Hardware can be free with multi-year processing commitment. Lower processing percent (1.99%) compensates for higher per-transaction flat fee.
The live self-serve pricing page (spoton.com/pricing, rechecked 2026-06-25) now leads with All-In ($0/station, 2.79% + $0.20) and POS Essentials ($55/station, 2.45% + $0.15). The 1.99% + $0.25 shown here is SpotOn's reported full-service restaurant rate (sales-quoted), triangulated from 2026 reviews (Tech.co, MerchantMaverick).
What this POS actually costs in Year 1.
*Representative buyer: 1 location · 2 terminals · $40K/mo card volume · ~600 transactions/mo.
Software $65-$165/mo. Hardware $0-$1,800 (often free with multi-year processing commitment). Processing 1.99% + $0.25. $40K/mo × 1.99% + $0.25 × 600 = $946/mo = $11,352/yr. Year-1 TCO: $13,000-$16,000.
Why this POS is priced this way.
SpotOn's structural differentiator is the processing-fee structure: 1.99% percent (lower than Square's 2.6%, Toast's 2.49%, Clover's 2.6%) combined with $0.25 flat fee (higher than Square's $0.15, Clover's $0.10). The maths flips depending on average ticket size — high-ticket full-service dining wins, low-ticket coffee/QSR loses. SpotOn also offers free hardware with multi-year processing commitment (similar to Clover lease structure but less aggressive).
What first-time buyers miss.
The 1.99% + $0.25 isn't universally cheaper — it's only better for high-ticket transactions. For a coffee shop averaging $8 tickets, the flat $0.25 fee on every transaction makes SpotOn meaningfully more expensive than Square. Compute the break-even ticket: at $20+ average ticket, SpotOn beats Square; below $20, Square wins.
Who this POS fits.
Full-service restaurants with average tickets over $25. Buyers who want hardware-bundle deals (free hardware with processing commitment). NOT for QSR, coffee shops, or any low-average-ticket vertical.